Strictly Hypothetical
by Luna Darkside
Summary: "Hypothetically speaking… what would you do if I told you that I… er… love you?" - In which Shinichi and Kaito trade hypothetical questions and receive somewhat surprising answers. /ShinKai, [fluffy] oneshot, complete/


_Yes, this has been done before. Multiple times in multiple fandoms with multiple pairings, in fact, but whatever, that's not the point._

_Let's see, any warnings? Hmm… technically shounen-ai since it's ShinKai and I typed this in literally an hour, so there might be some grammar issues, typos, etc., but fairly clean besides that, I suppose. Enjoy, m'dears! – Luna_

**Strictly Hypothetical**

"Hypothetically speaking, who is your dream partner and would you date them?"

"…What?" Kudou Shinichi looked up from the case file slumped across his lap, staring at Kuroba Kaito, his best friend of six months, with an owlishly blank expression.

The magician, who was sitting a few feet away from Shinichi in one of the Kudou library's armchairs, smiled brightly at him. He waved his magazine at the frowning detective. "That's the hypothetical question of the month, apparently. So, Shin-chan, what do you say?"

"Don't call me that," demanded Shinichi, scowl still firmly in place. "That's what my mom calls me." He shivered at the thought. His best friend and his mother being the same person – just… no.

Rolling his eyes, Kaito repeated, "So, _Shinichi_, what do you say?" He flapped the magazine for emphasis. "You know you want to~!"

"No, I don't want to, actually. I'm in the middle of this case." He gestured down at the stack of papers.

"You're no fun," pouted Kaito. With a devious grin, he vaulted across the room and swiped the report clean off Shinichi's lap, carefully placing the now-crinkled papers back in order inside the folder. With a puff of pink smoke, the file disappeared.

Shinichi glared at him, completely unsurprised. Being around Kaito for six months could do that to a person. "May I have that back, Kaito?" he asked politely, his grimace only deepening when Kaito shook his head.

"Honestly, Shinichi, we've been in the same room for three hours now, and we haven't shared more than ten words," Kaito raved, smacking Shinichi on the head with his magazine. He bent forward, indigo eyes only inches from Shinichi's as he twisted his lips into a crestfallen smile. "I miss talking to my darling detective," he added lowly, eyes remarkably sincere.

At that, Shinichi only swallowed hard and set his jaw. It was times like this that he didn't know what to think. Kaito frequently said things he didn't seem to mean anything by, but Shinichi always, _always _read into them, heart pounding and mouth drying. But honestly, what was his reaction supposed to be when Kaito was less than five inches away from him, whispering pet names and looking all alluring and – and…

"Okay, fine, I'll answer the question," Shinichi blurted out, mostly to get Kaito to back up a little. He gave the magician a light shove, and Kaito grinned, mercifully moving back a few steps.

"So. Hypothetical question of the month: who is your dream partner and would you date them?" sang Kaito.

Shinichi quirked an eyebrow. "If someone was your dream partner, why wouldn't you date them?"

Kaito shrugged. "Maybe if there were some circumstances keeping you apart, like a secret of some sort." His eyes seemed to darken at that, but Shinichi was fairly certain he was imagining it.

"Well…" Shinichi paused. He couldn't very well tell Kaito that he sort of loved him and therefore Kaito was his dream partner, could he? He sighed. "I don't think I know anyone who's my dream partner."

"Oh." Kaito blinked. "I would've thought for sure you'd say Mouri-chan…"

"Get real," scoffed Shinichi. "Whose dream partner is an easily angered karate champion?"

"A masochist?" Kaito offered pensively, eliciting a look from Shinichi. He nodded seriously before wondering, "Then, if nobody's good enough to be your dream partner, what would your dream partner be like?"

"Uh…" Shinichi was caught off guard. Should he be honest? Wouldn't he end up describing Kaito if he was? Wouldn't Kaito catch on? "I don't…" Seeing the innocent, inquisitive look on Kaito's face, he inwardly sighed and mentally steeled himself.

This was not going to end well.

"Uh…" Shinichi halted to grit his teeth. "They'd… have to be intelligent. I wouldn't be able to stand being around someone who doesn't understand what I'm talking about. They'd have to have to have a good heart, not malicious or sadistic. They'd obviously have to be able to stomach murder scenes if they're going to be around me." Shinichi rolled his eyes and lifted his eyes to the ceiling. How else could he indirectly describe Kaito to himself?

He furrowed his brow in thought. "They… would have to be able to have fun. They'd have to be confident in themself, not caring what people think of them. They'd have to be strong in their beliefs, not easily swayed by what people say or think. And… for looks, I would say…"

Shinichi took a quick glance over at Kaito, who was paying very careful attention to Shinichi's words. His indigo eyes were wide and flawless underneath a slanted sheet of dark eyelashes, and there was a large cowlick sticking off the top of his head at an adorable angle.

"…definitely indigo eyes and short hair," Shinichi heard himself saying, nearly smacking himself when Kaito looked momentarily confused by the description. _What the hell, Kudou?! That was way too damn obvious!_

Clearing his throat, Shinichi forced a light, "So who's your dream partner?" in a translucent attempt to change topics.

"Huh?" Startled, Kaito blinked for a second. "Oh… I don't know."

"Hm… then what would your dream partner be like?"

Kaito cast him an uncomfortable glance. "I… They would have to be really smart, with good deduction skills," he began slowly. "They would need to have a strong sense of justice. They'd need to be sarcastic, probably to keep me humble. They'd have to be good with kids. They'd have to be athletic and good at… uh… sports. Maybe play an instrument."

He looked over at Shinichi, who jerked and looked away when he realized how obviously he'd been hanging on Kaito's every word. Oh God. Just because he really wanted to know…

"He – _They_ would have to have azure eyes and pale skin," finished Kaito, slightly flushed. "And… yes. That's all."

The magician shuffled back over to his armchair, seeming a little flustered.

Shinichi set his lips in a thin line. Well. Who did know who fit Kaito's description? Who around Kaito had good deduction skills? Hakuba, for the most part. He had a strong sense of justice too. Maybe not the sarcastic bit, or the part about kids, or the athletic part… Did Hakuba play an instrument? He definitely didn't have azure eyes, but he did have pale skin…

"Ugh," muttered Shinichi, causing Kaito to peer up at him. This was stupid. He felt like an idiot. (Which he debatably was.)

Why couldn't he just ask Kaito if he wanted to know so much? But that would mean admitting some kind of interest… and Kaito had already said that his dream partner didn't exist…

_Why don't you just ask him if he's in love with you if you're agonizing over it so much? _snapped an irritated voice in his head.

Despite that it wasn't the best idea to converse with a voice in his head, Shinichi considered the idea. _Actually, that might work…_

"Hey, Kaito," Shinichi called.

"Mmhm?"

"I've got a hypothetical question for you." Shinichi gulped. This was going to be awkward, wasn't it? "This is completely hypothetical, of course."

"Yes…?" Kaito raised his eyebrows.

"I…" Shinichi coughed. "Hypothetically speaking… what would you do if I told you that I… er… love you?" He flinched at how tacky it sounded. Oh God. Why did he listen to the voice in his head, again?

Across the room, Kaito had blushed bright red, magazine hanging limply from his hand.

Shinichi couldn't blame him, really. How else were you supposed to react when your best friend of the same gender asked you a question like that?

He was surprised, however, when Kaito hesitantly asked, "This is all… hypothetical, right?"

"Uh, yes," answered Shinichi, not sure why that would be important.

"Then…" Kaito met his eyes. "Hypothetically, I… would tell you that I love you too."

Shinichi's world froze for a second.

But only a second, because soon enough he felt his face heating up and he nearly swallowed his tongue rather unattractively. "Wha – really?" he coughed.

"Er…" Kaito squirmed. "Ye – yes…?"

"Oh." Shinichi managed to regurgitate his tongue and stammer, "So… hypothetically… would you go out with me?"

"…Yes." Kaito nodded slowly. "Just – hypothetically, and all that."

Shinichi eyed him carefully. "Then, _hypothetically_, would you like to go out with me next Tuesday at six?"

"Hypothetically… yes." Kaito was smiling now, a small, amused curve of the lips.

Feeling his own lips curl, Shinichi continued, "And hypothetically, you wouldn't mind if I… uh… kissed you right now?"

"Hypothetically, if you were to do that, I would have to ask you if you would hypothetically mind if I were hypothetically… Kid?" Kaito stuttered with a painfully hopeful expression, hands tightening into fists.

"Uh… hypothetically, it would just confirm my theory." Shinichi shifted. So Kaito was Kid. Hakuba had actually been onto something.

"Then, hypothetically, yes, I would let you kiss me." Kaito sat back, relieved.

Shinichi strode across the room and pressed his lips to Kaito's.

**Omake**

The next morning, Shinichi dragged himself out of bed and staggered down the stairs, yawning widely. As he passed by the library, he noticed Kaito's magazine lying abandoned on the armchair the magician had occupied yesterday. With a fond smile, he entered the library and picked it up, skimming the glossy pages vaguely.

One page in particular caught his attention.

"Hypothetical question of the month: If you could go on vacation anywhere in the world, where would you go?"

Shinichi stared at the words uncomprehendingly. But wait, wouldn't that mean that Kaito had asked him that question about dream partners just because he had wanted to know…?

"Shinichi?" called Kaito's voice sleepily from upstairs, and a minute later the magician seemed to materialize behind Shinichi. "What's up?" he asked groggily from the library doorway. "Are we going to eat breakfast?"

Oh.

Shinichi had to hide a smile as he set down the magazine and turned to face his yawning magician. "It's nothing. Let's go."

* * *

**In case you didn't get it, Kaito asked Shinichi about his dream partner because he wanted to know if he had a chance/how he should improve if he didn't. Thought that might be hard to get if you don't think the same way I do. *shrug***

**But anyway, that was a rather pointless/strange oneshot. My list of oneshot ideas seems to be growing daily, though. T_T**

**Well, hope you enjoyed that to some degree. Drop me a review, k? Mwah! - Luna**


End file.
